Serena Williams speaks out on police violence

Serena Williams has shared her thoughts on police violence in a Facebook post that has been viewed tens of thousands of times since being uploaded on Tuesday evening.

The tennis ace described how, earlier this week, she had experienced feelings of anxiety when she spotted a policeman as her teenage nephew drove her to a meeting.

“I quickly checked to see if he was obliging by the speed limit,” wrote Williams, 35. “Than I remembered that horrible video of the woman in the car when a cop shot her boyfriend.

The shooting she’s referring to is most likely that of Philando Castile, 32, a school cafeteria supervisor who was repeatedly shot by a white police officer during a routine traffic stop in Minnesota in July.

“All of this went through my mind in a matter of seconds,” she continued. “I even regretted not driving myself. I would never forgive myself if something happened to my nephew. He's so innocent. So were all ‘the others’.

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“I am a total believer that not ‘everyone’ is bad It is just the ones that are ignorant, afraid, uneducated, and insensitive that is affecting millions and millions of lives.

“Why did I have to think about this in 2016? Have we not gone through enough, opened so many doors, impacted billions of lives? But I realized we must stride on- for it's not how far we have come but how much further still we have to go.

“I than wondered than have I spoken up? I had to take a look at me. What about my nephews? What if I have a son and what about my daughters?”